Bow Turns Twenty

 Yesterday, Bow turned twenty. We celebrated with a cake which Bow's grandmother bought, a card from Bow's friend Charla, and a gift from me: a back pack stuffed toy.

Bow always gets excited every time the birthday song is sung, whether in Hebrew or English. He loves the can of Crush that he is served with his birthday cheesecake. He chose the plain cheesecake to eat this time. He had great fun opening his birthday card.  The birthday backpack was also a big hit!

He took it with him to bed when the day was over.

But he also enjoyed trying it on.

In fact, he tried it on in more than one way.

Bow used to have big parties attended by many guests. But the cozy, snug and private parties are the safest during a pandemic. And Bow still knows that many people all over the world are wishing him well on his birthday. 

For now, this is good enough, and we are happy. 

Celebrating Bow's Sixteenth Birthday

Bow turned sixteen today. We celebrated quietly, just the two of us.

We did all the usual things that we used to do when I would throw Bow a birthday party every year, minus the guests. This year, Lawrence is not available, anymore,  and Sword is away at college, so Bow and I decided to celebrate alone. In some ways, I think Bow enjoyed this way of celebrating more.

He had less anxiety when the birthday song was sung, and he got the cake all to himself.

Usually, we blow out the candles together through the grille, before Bow selects which piece of cake he wants. But this time, as there were no others, I brought in the cake for him to blow out the candles by himself. Bow, however, did not take time to blow out the candles. He picked up a spoon and proceeded to devour as much as he could with the candles still burning.

I did eat one slice of the cake, one of the two that were dabbed with chocolate. Meanwhile, Bow had the rest all by himself, so I decided to call that lunch. The candles that were still burning did not bother him.

The six went out by itself, but the flame on the one was persistent, so eventually I blew it out.

In addition to the cake, Bow got a present from me, and a card addressed to him arrived in the mail from his friend Charla.

Bow is not very prompt with opening presents and cards. He puts it off and takes his own sweet time. For a long time he sat very still with his back to his present.

He took off the party hat he had on rather quickly, but he let me put it back on him again later and was even willing to pose.

By the time he tore open the card from Charla, Bow was almost too tired to open it fully to hear the beautiful birthday song it played  But once the song began to play, he was moving to the music.

All in all, Bow had a great day. He could not have enjoyed it more if there had been more presents or cards, because he likes to take his time and not be rushed in the enjoyment of his big day.

 Bow went to bed fully satisfied. And now he is sixteen.

Bow's Birthday Party

Today is Bow's birthday. He is fifteen years old. But we had the party for him yesterday.

As usual, we sang the birthday song, blew out the candles, had cake and ice cream and opened presents. The video, once edited down, takes only a minute to watch, but the party took quite a bit longer.

Highlights for Bow were the cake and ice cream.

He also enjoyed seeing so many of his friends there all at the same time.

There was Sword and Charla, as well as a friend of Sword's, Brian.

There was Lawrence's daughter Lori, and Lawrence himself. Bow is not very materialistic, so besides the food and the companionship, he showed a lot less interest in his present, a new hammock seat with bright colored cushions.

Before the guests left, Bow asked to go to the outer pen, where he showed everyone, including our dogs, how high he could swing.